OAF News

Toronto, October 19, 2017- Rosalie Favell is the 2017 recipient of the $30,000 Paul de Hueck and Norman Walford Career Achievement Award for Art Photography. The award recognizes outstanding achievement in the field of art photography, and was presented today at OCADU and the Art Gallery of Ontario's conference Entangled Gaze: Indigenous and European Views of Each Other where Favell is a featured speaker.

Rosalie Favell is a photo-based artist, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Drawing inspiration from her family history and Métis (Cree/English) heritage, she uses a variety of sources, from family albums to popular culture, to present a complex self-portrait of her experiences as a contemporary aboriginal woman.

A graduate of Ryerson Polytechnic Institute, Rosalie holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of New Mexico. She is a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. She has studied and taught extensively at the post-graduate level. She has worked with grassroots organizations in Winnipeg, Inuit educational groups in Ottawa and Nepalese women’s groups in Katmandu. In Ottawa Rosalie has taught at Carleton University, the University of Ottawa and Discovery University.

Favell was selected by a jury comprising Lise Beaudry, photographer (Toronto, ON); Scott Benesiinaabandan, photographer (Montreal, QC), and Michelle Jacques curator (Victoria, BC). The jury was unanimous in their praise of Favell, stating “Rosalie creates compelling and beautiful works of art. She offers counter-stories that write Indigenous peoples into visual culture – perhaps in reaction to their absence in mainstream culture. Rosalie’s strength is evident in her generousity towards her students and community, which has created an important impact on the next generation of artists.”

The Paul de Hueck and Norman Walford Career Achievement Award was established at the Ontario Arts Foundation by the late Norman Walford, former Executive Director of the Ontario Arts Council, and the late Paul de Hueck, former CBC television production manager. The Ontario Arts Council is responsible for the nomination and selection process.

Established in 1991, the Ontario Arts Foundation (OAF) is passionately committed to building long-term support for the arts in Ontario. In 2016-2017, the OAF paid over $3.2 million in endowment income and $325,000 in awards and scholarships.

For more than 50 years, the Ontario Arts Council (OAC) has played a vital role in promoting and assisting the development of the arts for the enjoyment and benefit of Ontarians. In 2016-2017 the OAC funded 1,657 individual artists and 1,098 organizations in 212 communities across Ontario for a total of $50.8 million.